A Wolf's Pride by Jennifer T. Alli Page A

illegal, but
from our perspective, things are different.”
    This newcomer
was, if possible taller than Ryan and she struggled not to feel
intimidated by his steel gaze as his stormy grey eyes bored into
her. He acted as though he already disliked her and she couldn’t
prevent a shiver of fear running through her body. His shoulders
were as wide as Ryan’s though he seemed more heavily muscled and
while Ryan’s strength had thus far been used with the sole
intention of protecting her, she could easily imagine the newcomer
using his strength against her. His black hair was so dark that it
seemed to blend in with the night that surrounded them and she had
a sinking feeling that if he chose to harm her she wouldn’t know it
until it was too late.
    “ Tobias,” Ryan
growled. “Stop looking at her like that, you’re scaring her.” He
pulled her closer to his body, whispering in her ear, “I’m sorry
for my cousin’s behaviour. He’s been under a lot of pressure
lately.”
    “ You’re related
to him?” she hissed, her voice low as she tried to keep the
attention drawn to herself low.
    “ Yes. Tobias,
are you ok? You’re not normally this harsh to people you don’t
know. Has something happened to Alex?”
    “ No, she’s
fine. She’s back at the estate where she belongs….” His voice
trailed off as a pack of wolves ran towards them. Tobias’ shoulders
tensed and Chloe squeaked in fear, he seemed if possible more
dangerous than he had before.
    Her gaze was
instantly drawn to the animals as they drew to a halt in front of
them. She watched in morbid fascination as they began the process
of transformation that Ryan had once shown her. The change was
quick and soon there were another five people in their vicinity,
four men and a single woman. The men were all tall, muscular and
solidly built while the woman made Chloe cringe. She was physically
everything that she was not. Tall, slim and to Chloe’s eyes
beautiful. Long black hair fell down her back like a waterfall and
Chloe couldn’t help but be entranced by the woman’s seductive
movements as she walked towards Sebastian. Apparently she wasn’t
the only one as when she took a moment to look at Ryan’s brother,
he seemed just as fixated.
    “ Erica,”
Sebastian breathed as she reached him. Her hands stroked his torso,
rising to his neck and pulling his head down to her own and
pressing their lips together for a searing kiss.
    Diverting her
attention from the intimate couple, she looked back towards Tobias
to find that he and the four other men had moved away from them.
His voice carried the distance that separated them and though she
couldn’t make out each word he spoke, she got the general
impression that he was angry and the thought didn’t sit well with
her.
    “ What’s going
on Ryan?” She had always been curious, wanting to know exactly what
was going on around her and this situation intrigued her as much as
it terrified her.
    “ I think that
Alex has done something to upset my cousin. He’s never normally
this insensitive towards strangers. ”
    “ Alex? Who’s
that?”
    “ She’s his
mate, our Queen. And judging by the fact that her guards are here,
I’m going to guess that she isn’t where he left her. I don’t think
he likes leaving her alone after what happened to her the last time
he did. She was almost killed.”
    “ Where is she
then?”
    “ Alex is on her
way here.” The black haired woman answered. Having greeted her
mate, she had made her way back to where Chloe was clutching Ryan’s
arms tightly, increasingly overwhelmed by this new turn of
events.
    “ Excuse
me?”
    “ I’m sorry, I
haven’t even introduced myself. I’m Erica, Sebastian's mate. Alex
and I wanted to meet you so we set out after Tobias, Sebastian and
some of the estate guards had left. It was fairly simple to follow
them.”
    “ Why would you
want to meet me?”
    “ Because you’re
the newest member of our family,” Erica scoffed as though